Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Smart Shopper Real-World Trade-In Values
38947 messages, Last post on Dec 08, 2009 at 12:48 PM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
Appraise your car
get trade-in, private party, dealer retail values.
|
|
|---|---|
|
Boston, MA 2008 Honda Civic LX 4 Door Automatic Gray 17,000 miles Excellent Condition (no dings, scratches, tires have most tread) All dealer maintenance performed
|
|
|
We bought a 2009 Pontiac Vibe in Aug. 2008 for just under $20,000. Dec. 26, 2008, it was smashed by another driver who hit it when it was in my mother's driveway. The repair bill was just under $10,000, right at half the purchase price of the new car. We'd driven it 4 months and had 9,000 miles on it. We're trying to get the other driver's insurance to give us a diminished value claim. Is it true, a wrecked car with that much damage can never be a "certified pre-owned vehicle" on the lot of a reputable dealer? Is it true CarMax won't have a repainted car on the lot or at least not one with as extensive damage as our car suffered? We hired a Diminished Value service to estimate our loss, and it was $3,884; but the most the insurance company has offered us is offered us is $1500.
|
|
|
|
|
Looking at a couple of cars - 2003 Honda Accord Coupe EX-L Nav Private Owner - 2nd owner Black/black leather 106000 miles (needs timing belt service, $600  dealer) good condition - new tires, all maintenance records. Rear bumper replaced last year - the current owner backed into their other vehicle. 2002 Acura 3.2 TL VIN 19UUA56662A048754 Dealer owned (Mercedes dealer) 1 owner, red/tan interior. Good (not new) tires. 85k miles. Great condition - ne dents, tears, stains. I was able to verify the service history with Acura dealer. Both are located in TN, the Honda near Nashville, the Acura in the Eastern part of the state. Wondering what a good offer would be for both of these cars. |
|
|
Replying to: volvomax (Oct 26, 2009 2:37 pm)  I don't know why the salesman is not responding to the OP. |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: volvomax (Oct 26, 2009 2:36 pm) Hang on a second. I never offer up a dollar figure on my trades when I send these e-mails. I simply give a thorough description of the car and tell them I'd like to discuss a trade. The closest I came to hinting at a value recently was to suggest I might like to do a cashless exchange between my trade and a car the dealer was advertising. A smart salesperson would have gotten back to me to see if I would be willing to pay a couple thousand along with the trade (I probably would have) or would do a cashless deal on a lower-priced car. A dumb salesperson would give no response and lose a potential customer, which is what happened. I think the real answer is that dealers are simply lazy and still arrogant. Either that, or they're suffering from depression after the "Cash for Clunkers" euphoria. They'd prefer to have a sucker walk through the door and pay their ridiculous retail used car prices with all cash or their overblown financing. They barely want to lift a finger to send your car off to an auction. To give you an example of the attitude, last summer, one of my dealers staged a special "clinic" with some half-price maintenance services. One could assume the dealership did this to get some live prospects in the door because there were refreshments, a free gift, etc. As I waited for my car for close to an hour, I spent a lot of time examining the stock on the showroom floor. Not one salesperson came up to me to see if I was interested in doing a deal. Instead, they all sat at their desks drinking coffee and eating the customers' Danish. (BTW, after my visit, I e-mailed the dealer about one of the cars on the floor and said I was interested in trading two of my cars against it. No trade-in values or a cashless exchange were mentioned. I also got no answer back on this one. Someone probably decided that the coffee would get cold if they had to take the time to process two trades at once.) There are too many dealers and too many cars out there for customers to have to beg for a salesperson's attention in these tough times. As far as I'm concerned, the non-respondents can go commission-less as their cars rot on the lot through the winter.
|
|
|
Replying to: longislander1 (Oct 27, 2009 1:28 pm) I think the dealer might think that your cars are not worth that much and you are more likely to reject the offer. Sometimes, when I go to purchase a new car, the dealer want to negotiate the used car first b/c he says that many time people want too much money for their used. However, if I resist just to discuss the diff, they usually don't mine as well.
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: gooddeal2 (Oct 27, 2009 1:51 pm) On a new car, I usually ask the salesperson to send his/her best price on a specific in-stock car in a return e-mail. If I don't get a price back or if I get no response or the usual gobbledygook, that dealership comes off the list. On a trade, I simply have the dealership look at the car and give me a price. After their prices are offered to me, I then negotiate to narrow the spread between the trade and the new car. I hear what you're saying, but It doesn't make any sense for a dealer to try and read my mind without contacting me. After all, negotiations are about talking. If a dealer doesn't want to talk, that kind of attitude assures a sale won't happen. I just think that, these days, any salesperson not responding to a legitimate inquiry is simply a dunce and deserves the low pay.
|
|
|
Replying to: longislander1 (Oct 27, 2009 2:37 pm)
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: lrguy44 (Oct 27, 2009 3:33 pm)
|
|
|
Replying to: longislander1 (Oct 27, 2009 6:19 pm) |
|
You are here:
Forums
Smart Shopper Real-World Trade-In Values
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
